The EDUCONOMY project investigates the continuities and discontinuities of educonomic philosophies, conceptualized as ideas that enact education as an instrument for the economy, in contemporary public policy. The educonomic philosophy of human capital theory has had a vast impact on education policy since the 1960’s, but now new educonomic philosophies are emerging. The project examines educonomic philosophies in policymaking as they materialize in textual and calculative practices. The project compares such practices across Denmark and New Zealand, representing contexts of mainstream and new economic thinking respectively, as well as the OECD, previously promoting human capital theory and now promoting new economic thinking, to study how educonomic philosophies change with new economic thinking.
Project period: 1 April 2026 – 30 September 2029
Funded by: Independent Research Fund Denmark (DFF)
The project collaborates with WELA (Wellbeing Economy Lab), which is a Danish think tank working for an economic system that is focused on meeting the fundamental needs and rights for current and future generations within planetary boundaries.
Lasse Folke Henriksen, CBS
Radhika Gorur, Deakin University
Cris Shore, Goldsmiths, University of London
